quick question, i was reading about blacklights in an article written by melissa Kaplan, she said that real black lights (BL), not the black lights that are used for lighting glow-in-the dark posters(BLB), are safe for those reptiles that need UV rays, but she does not specify what time to use them, does anyone know if they can be used as night lighting safely for a pythons. thanks

I have never seen anything remotely resembling a "blacklight" that supplies UVB lighting for reptiles. The blacklights sold for making flourescents glow in the dark are harmful to the animals' eyes.
What kind of python are you talking about? Pythons in general do not require UVB lighting and lighting at night is not necessary or even desirable.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Hello,

I believe MK was referring to the UVA spectrum in that article. (I read that years ago, so I am not 100% certain.) To the best of my knowledge, Merlin is right. There is no blacklight on the market that emits UVB.

I was also curious what type of python you have. If you wanted to use the blacklight (bulb) for viewing, that would be fine so long as the pythong could not come into contact with it.

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.:: Rich ::.

+ Spread The Info

This is an old thread but I found it particularly interesting and I thought it would be helpful for the members to have an accurate answer to this question. BL lamps have been used in reptile husbandry for almost 20 years, specifically the Sylvania 350BL although mostly in the zoologist arena.

An interesting study on the comparison of BL lamps and MV bulbs is at the reptileuvinfo site under Scientific Studies.
http://www.reptileuvinfo.com/scientificstudies.htm

If these bulbs are used they must be accompanied by full spectrum (visible light) lighting preferably 5000-65K type tubes or halogen flood lights because of the very narrow band of light it produces.

The problem with using UVB tube lighting with any snake species is that the husbandry conditions with this animal is generally poor in size not allowing the creature to have any escape from the UVR. While the use of ultraviolet is controversial in the keeping of snakes, the fact that they can and do synthesize 25OHD3 from exposure to it can’t be ignored.

Many reptile curators around the world have acknowledged the fact that when specimens become sluggish or they have breeding problems the introduction of UVB exposure or additional oral D3 snaps the animals back to more natural state even becoming difficult to handle.

To me this is no surprise. When ever we eliminate a primary substance form a living creatures environment there are bound to be problems.

Bobmac
reptileuv (again I can't link here)

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Reptile UV
UV Guide UK
Reptile UV Info
UV Meters Group

Bob, thank you for clearing that up. Very usefull info to have and also makes a great read to all who are interested in correct lighting. Welcome to the HCN by the way

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Ken
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan

I should have mentioned that the BL lamps are different then the black lights used for poster enhancement . the Black lights do not emit and usable UVB but rather high UVA and the blue light spectrum.

Bobmac

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Reptile UV
UV Guide UK
Reptile UV Info
UV Meters Group

thank you all for the responses, of course I would never use a BLB light as they are damaging to the reptiles eye, i was just trying to find a light to use for viewing at night and also for maintaining the mild night temp, i have an albino burmese python, i think that I am just going to go with a bulb that "Reptile" makes that is used for night viewing reptiles.